Other material while



June 27, 1933. B J HALL ET AL 1,916,109

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING SHEETS OF PAPER OR OTHER MATERIAL WHILE TRAVELING IN THE sAME DIRECTION Filed Sept. 4, 1931 fizz/6228013;

Patented June 27, 1933 BENJAMIN JAI/IES HALL AND BENJAMIN FAIR-FAX HALL, F

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING SHEETS OF PAPEB OTHER- LONDON, ENGLAND MATERIAL VIHILE TRAVELING IN THE ,SAME DIRECTION Application filed September 4, 1931, Serial No. 551,292, and in Great Britainoctober 2-0, 1939.

This invention relates to the separation or picking elf of the uppermost or of the lowest of two or more sheets of paper, cloth or other material of one kind and size or of varying 5 kinds and sizes, in such manner that the uppermost or lowest sheet can be made to travel in a direction differing from that of the remaining sheet or pile of sheets, and also to the separation or picking oil of the upper- 1 most and the lowest of three or more sheets of paper, cloth or other material of one'kind and size or of varying kinds and sizes, in such manner that the uppermost and the lowest sheets can be made to travel in directions differing from that of the remaining sheet or pile of sheets.

Hitherto when two or more superimposed sheets of paper, or other material were passed through a printing or photo copying or other machine it was necessary to have an operator at the discharge end of the machine in order to separate the required sheet or sheets from the remaining sheet or sheets so that the separated sheet or sheets, even if continuing to travel in the same direction as the remaining sheet or sheets, were thereatter on differing planes, no known mechanical means being available to accomplish this operation with certainty, especially in cases where the edges of the sheets are exactly superimposed at the emerging ends, or where sheets of varying sizes were fed into the machine irregularly and without mechanical exactitude.

According to this invention we employ an electro-static lifter or lifters above or below or both above and below the sheets or other material. Such lifter or lifters may consist of an endless band or bands, electro-statically charged by means of friction, induction, or

otherwise, such band or hands revolving so that the sheet or sheets or other material being attached thereto by the electro-static force are redirected as required. In place of an electro-statically charged band we may employ an electro statically charged roller or cylinder revolving in the required direction. Or we may employ stationary electrostatic devices to achieve the initial attraction required,-the subsequent redirection being accomplished by suitable mechanical means.

Another method according to this invcin tion is to employ an electro-static lifter or lifters above or below or both above and '55 below the sheets or other material, these lifters being separated from the sheets or other material, by suitable screens which. prevent the sheets or other material from coming into actual contact with litter or lifters, such screens however being pervious to the attractive force generated by the litter or litters. The screen or screens may be iii-zed or re volving, and if revolving may constitute a come or band noon the under or 1Eunerside'65 l l i of which the sheet or other material attached thereto by the attractive force of the lifter or lifters may be transferred and redirected. In order that the invention may belclearly understood we have illustrated diagrammatically on the accompanying drawing how when employing an electro-statically charged roller two sheets issuing from, say a photo copying machine, are separated and the upper sheet made to travel back towards the feed end of the machine while the other sheet continues to travel forward.

A represents the exciting roller, B the ore cited or separating roller, and D the driving roller around which the endless conveyor band E travels.

The two superimposed sheets 6 c after traveling through the machine on the end less band E are conducted by the guide plate F. under the roller B, and as this roller B is excited by frictional contact with the exciting roller A. the upper sheet 6 being in contactwith the roller B is attracted to and carried bysaid roller B onto the exciting roller A around which it continues to travel until it reaches the discharge H which removes it from said roller A, thus enabling said sheet 6 to be conveyed by suitable means back towards the feed end of the machine. The lower sheet 6 however, not being in contact with the roller B, continues to travel forward on the band E from whence it passes on to the discharge J out of the machine.

It will be evident should the lower sheet 0 be of a larger size than the upper sheet 6 that the said sheet 6 as it passes under roller B will become attached to said roller B, but as soon as the upper sheet passes under and also becomes attached to the roller Be the attractive force of the roller B ceases to act on the lower sheet e which lower sheet 8 then falls back and is carried forward onto the discharge J. 7

hat we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device for separating the topmost sheet of two or more traveling sheets and conveying the said topmost sheet in a new direction, an endless conveyor for the said sheets comprising a web traveling around a roller, a second roller permanently fixed above and in contact with the web at the point where it passes around the first roller and rotating in the opposite direct-ion thereto, a third roller above and in frictional contact with the second roller and rotating in the same direction therewith for the purpose of charging the second roller with static electricity to attract the topmost sheet of the said traveling sheets and convey it around the second and third roller and guide means for directing the said traveling sheets between the said first and second rollers,

2. In a device for separating the topmost sheet of two or more traveling sheets and conveying the said topmost sheet in a new direction, an endless conveyor for the said sheets comprising a web traveling around a roller, a secondroller permanently fixed above and in contact with the web at the point where it passes around the first roller and rotating in the opposite direction thereto, a third roller above and in frictional cont-act with the second roller and rotating in the same direction therewith for the purpose of charging the second roller with static electricity to attract the topmost sheet of the said traveling sheets and convey it around the second and third roller, guide means for directing the said traveling sheets between the said first and second rollers, and means associated with said third roller for separating the said sheet therefrom and conveying it back to its starting point.

3. In a device for separating the topmost sheet of two or more traveling sheets comprising an endlessweb traveling around a roller, an electrically charged roller above and substantially in contact with said web at the point where it passes over said first roller to attract said topmost sheet and convey it around said charged roller, guide means for directing said sheets between said rollers, a charging roller rotating in the same direction as the charged roller and frictionally contacting with the same to charge it with static electricity, said charging roller also providing means for the further conveyance of the separated sheet and means associated with said charging roller for separating the sheet therefrom and conveying it back to its starting point.

In testimony whereof we have aiiixed our signatures.

BENJAMIN JAMES HALL. BENJAMIN FAIRFAX HALL. 

